Profound and sincere apologies for anything that might even be perceived as passive-aggressive in a recent response to a Brains and Eggs entry. My comrade Perry Dorrell has posted two-thirds of a series he labels "the Revolution vs. the Resistance," and it's a fascinating read for Texas Progressives.

News flash: Sema = Revolution, and Beto = Mere Resistance.

Don't Just Say NoNaomi Klein's rushed-to-press book from last year is entitled No Is Not Enough. The title is a pretty solid slogan for Progressives in North America and elsewhere. The Pussy-Hat Resistance Movement is a Just Say No campaign.

It is not entirely true that the Resistance is focusing exclusively on halting the Drumpf/GOP agenda, without offering alternative policies. Generally, however, the main thrust of the Resistance consists of NO! and then figuring out what happens after Democrats recapture Congress, like the dog that finally catches the car.

The Revolution, on the other hand, is about proposing something different—not just different from what Republicans offer, but from what mainstream Democrats laughably call their "ideas." The Revolution may work within the Democratic Party as outsider candidates, in third parties, or independently; whichever, they bring truly progressive platforms that include single payer/Medicare for All and ending US foreign military adventures.

Part II of Diddie's trilogy examines the primary race for US Senate. The media gods have already decided that the only Democratic candidate in that race worthy of mention is Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke. They also seem to think that O'Rourke is some kind of Progressive, to which Diddie says, "HA!!" He also says, in a nutshell, that the Resistance without the Revolution is nothing.

Please don't give me any crap about pragmatism over purity. I am so worn out by logic represented by "if everybody who voted for Jill Stein would have voted for Hillary Clinton, Hillary would have won" that my stock response turns that inside out: if everybody who voted for Hillary would have voted for Jill Stein instead, Trump wouldn't be president. And we'd all be even better off than that.

So you vote your principles in the primary and I'll vote mine. Don't expect me to vote for your neoliberal shitholes in November if you wouldn't vote for a Democratic Socialist now, or then. There's gonna be a Revolution inside the Democratic Party sooner than later; I'm voting for now.

This is the gritty Diddie to whom I have become accustomed. It is clearer to me now that his apparent giddiness a few weeks ago was less about the Progressive candidates themselves lining up to run in primaries than about the fact that #DemEnter tactics were already bearing fruit, with the potential of sending shivers down the Democratic establishment's collective backbone (if such a thing exists).​​DBC Remains Undecided Re Beto VoteIn the absence of a Green candidate, Diddie avers that he will abstain in the US Senate race if it comes down to Cruz, O'Rourke, and a Libertarian nominee. As for me, I have stated in casual conversation that I am at least considering casting a vote for O'Rourke in November, in the still-hypothetical event of his winning the nomination. But I could change my mind before then and, like Diddie, tell all the US Senate nominees to get stuffed.

My dithering on the question, my not just saying no to enabling yet another corporate Democrat, happens not because I have fallen for his pseudo-progressive image-making or his eerie resemblance to Robert Francis Kennedy. If I were a Democratic primary voter, I would cast a vote for Sema Hernandez in March; if O'Rourke wins as everyone expects, then I would feel justified in not voting for him (or Cruz or the Libertarian) in November, having at least tried to thwart him.

There's a difference in the differences, from my perspective. As loathsome as I find our alleged president, I still couldn't in good conscience vote for Hillary Clinton in November 2016. The difference between O'Rourke and Cruz, in terms of the damage they can do in office, is more significant to me than between Clinton and General Shithole.

But I won't be voting in the 6 March Primary. I'll be at the Harris County Greens' precinct conventions the following Tuesday night, helping get a battered Green Party of Texas regain ballot access. It's kind of a knee-jerk reflex of mine. Even if we fail in 2018, this year's petition drive will be a warmup for 2020, when the stakes are likely to be much higher.

With Beto, there's the Trump factor now, which couldn't be hanged around Abbott's neck. And, while Beto is somewhat a squish, I still contend he's less of one than Wendy.

In addition to Beto having a higher win chance, let's not forget that, with Doug Jones (even bigger squish) now in the Senate, a win by Beto could well actually mean something, you know?

As for Our Revolution's portion of "the revolution"? Wake me up when it:
A. Discusses foreign policy, not just domestic, and
B. Its foreign policy stances aren't bipartisan foreign policy establishment.

I ain't holding my breath.

dbc

19/1/2018 12:36:08

I get email from the local Our Revolution group, might go to this weekend's meeting & report back. Luigi Bai, one of the core members, has told me that, yes, there are unrehabilitated Democrats who talk a lot in the group, so I'm prepared for disappointment.

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